For much of Sunday’s game between the Rams and the Chargers, it was impossible to distinguish:
Which team had arrived at SoFi Stadium winless?
The Chargers, who had not won a game since last season, looked the part.
But so did the supposedly we’re-ready-to-make-a-run Rams.
Gary Klein breaks down what went right for the Rams in a 24-9 win over the Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
The Rams showed life at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, and that ultimately proved enough for a 24-9 victory in front of 73,621.
Matthew Stafford passed for a touchdown and Blake Corum and Kyren Williams rushed for touchdowns as the Rams improved their record to 4-4.
Safety Quentin Lake and cornerback Trent McDuffie intercepted passes to foil a Justin Herbert-led offense that went into the game as the NFL’s lowest-scoring outfit and did little to foster reason for optimism.
For a mostly underperforming Rams team that began the season as an overwhelming favorite to win Super Bowl LXI, it has turned into a season of firsts.
Consider: For the first time this season, the Rams have won two games in a row.
They did it, for the first time, with two kickers — Joshua Karty and Brandon McManus — active for a game, though the kicking-game problems are far from resolved.
And yet the Rams found a way to win the kind of game they had previously lost. Who can forget their 18-15 defeat by the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium, a loss in which the Cardinals — like the Chargers — did not score a touchdown?
“Our team is becoming battle tested and finding ways to win those games that maybe we didn’t earlier on in the year,” said Stafford, who completed 17 of 25 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown, with an interception.
McVay had bristled this week when asked if he feared a letdown by his team against a winless opponent.
“I couldn’t care less about what their record is,” McVay said. “I would hope that we’re mature and professional enough to know that we have to be able to have the right focus, concentration, level of urgency.”
1. Rams safety Quentin Lake intercepts a pass in the first half. 2. Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh walks on the sideline in the fourth quarter. 3. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert slides for a short gain against the Rams in the first half Sunday at SoFi Stadium. 4. Rams offensive linemen run onto the field before the start of the game. 5. Rams coach Sean McVay celebrates with Jordan Whittington and Matthew Stafford after a touchdown in the second half.
Message apparently not received.
The Rams, the NFL’s top offense in yards per game, generated only 24 yards in 15 plays during their first five possessions and were zero for five on third down.
“Couldn’t have started any worse offensively,” McVay said.
For a time, they looked in danger of repeating 2020, when they lost to the 0-13 New York Jets at SoFi Stadium.
“To even establish any sort of momentum or rhythm was nonexistent for us,” McVay said.
But the Rams’ defense stepped up.
“Our job is, ‘OK, if the offense can’t create momentum, how can we create that for them,’” Lake said. “We were able to do that.”
The hapless Chargers also lent a hand.
They fell to 0-7 for the first time 2000, when they finished 1-15.
It was the Chargers’ 10th straight loss dating to last season, and no doubt keeps offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel on the hot seat.
Herbert continued to struggle, increasing his league-leading interception total to 10. He completed 24 of 32 passes for 257 yards.
The Rams led 10-9 at halftime after Williams rushed for a short touchdown in the final minute to cap a five-play, 66-yard drive.
The Chargers’ frustration could be summed up in one play: Receiver Ladd McConkey hauled in Herbert’s desperation 54-yard pass on the final snap of the second quarter … at the one-yard line.
The Rams came out strong to start the second half, Corum breaking off a 23-yard touchdown run for a 17-9 lead. Late in the third quarter, McDuffie picked off a pass, setting up Puka Nacua’s 18-yard catch and run for a touchdown.
As they did in last week’s victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, Corum and Williams proved a valuable combination. Corum rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown in 11 carries and Williams had 56 rushing yards and a touchdown in 16 carries.
The Rams play at Washington next Sunday and at Arizona the following week. They will have a short bye week before playing the Green Bay Packers the night before Thanksgiving.
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua slips a tackle by Chargers defensive lineman Teair Tart on his way to scoring a touchdown in the third quarter Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
So there is ample opportunity for the Rams to put together a win streak worthy of a star-studded team that was built to play in the Super Bowl in February.
McVay has indicated that the Rams would not be very active as next week’s NFL trade deadline approaches, saying that the team would count on the return of injured players.
But the injured list might continue to grow.
Cornerbacks McDuffie and Jaylen Watson both left against the Chargers because of back and shoulder injuries, respectively.
That did not keep the Rams from breathing a sigh of relief. They had avoided a loss to their winless neighbors.
“It’s not something that we can exhale from,” said Nacua, who caught 11 passes for 80 yards. “There’s still a lot of improvement.”
But for a day at least, they could cling to a hint of momentum.
Rams running back Blake Corum breaks a tackle from Chargers safety Elijah Molden on his way to scoring a touchdown Sunday.